Dual condiment dispenser

ABSTRACT

A condiment dispenser having two separate compartments for use in separately dispensing two different condiments, such as salt and pepper. A container is divided into two separate compartments by means of a partition which runs vertically between the bottom and the top thereof. The top of the compartment is covered by a cap member which is removably attached thereto by suitable means such as an interference fit. One or more apertures are formed in opposite portions of the sides of the cap member to form a condiment pouring outlet for each of the compartments. A baffle member is formed in the cap member opposite each of the outlets, each of said baffle members partially surrounding its associated outlet and having triangularly cross-sectioned deflector portions. The apices of the deflector portions are positioned directly opposite the apertures such that when the condiment is being shaken out of one of the compartments, the baffle will tend to prevent the condiment in the other of the compartments from being shaken out of its outlet.

This invention relates to condiment dispensers, and more particularly tosuch a dispenser having dual compartments for use in separatelydispensing two different condiments.

Condiment dispensers have been developed in the prior art for dispensingtwo different condiments such as salt and pepper. Many of these, asexemplified in my U.S. Pat. No. 3,168,256, involve a combination peppermill and salt dispenser positioned one above the other. The presentinvention is involved with a simple dispenser for two condiments whichdoes not employ a grinder but rather involves a single container unitwhich has a vertical partition which divides the container into a pairof separate compartments, one for each of the condiments.

In experimenting with this type of device, it was found that whendispensing one of the condiments with the usual shaking action, theother condiment tended to be inadvertently shaken out of its outlet,with the resultant undesirable effects particularly in the case ofpepper. The device of th present invention overcomes these shortcomingsby a simple yet highly effective baffle member placed in the cap of thedispenser opposite each of the condiment outlets, these baffle membersoperating to effectively prevent the condiment not being purposelydispensed from passing through its outlet, at the same time is no wayinterfering with the normal dispensing of the condiments.

It is therefore an object of this invention to provide an improved dualcondiment dispenser for separately dispensing two different condiments,such as salt and pepper.

It is a further object of this invention to provide a dual condimentdispenser having means for preventingj the second condiment from beinginadvertently ejected from its compartment while the first condiment isbeing purposely dispensed.

Other objects of this invention will become apparent as the descriptionproceeds in connection with the accomanying drawings, of which:

FIG. 1 is a side elevational view in cross-section of a preferredembodiment of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a side elevational view in cross-section of the preferredembodiment taken 90° from the view of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along the plane indicated by 3--3in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a side view in cross-section showing the preferred embodimentin use; and

FIG. 5 is a perspective view illustrating the cap member and the bafflemembers of the preferred embodiment.

Briefly described, my invention is as follows:

A container, which in the illustrative embodiment is cylindrical but mayalso be rectangular or square, has a partition or divider which extendslongitudinally from the top to the bottom thereof and divides thecontainer into two substantially equal compartments. The top of thecontainer is covered by a cap member which has a side wall which extendsupwardly from the side wall of the container and is substantially flushtherewith. Extending between the top edges of the side wall of the capmember is a flat top wall. The side wall of the cap portion has anundercut bottom edge forming a shoulder and lip portion which engages amating undercut edge along the top of the container in a tight fittingrelationship such that the cap member can be removed by lifting it withone's finger when necessary to fill the container with condiments. Thecap member has one or more apertures in the side walls thereof for eachof the compartments of the container, these apertures being used fordispensing the condiments. Formed in the cap member opposite eachaperture or group of apertures is a baffle member, these baffle membersbeing in the form of small blocks which extend inwardly from the innersurface of the side wall of the cap member. The baffle units have adeflector with a triangular cross-section which have their apicesdirectly opposite the dispensing apertures such that when condiment isbeing shaken from one of the compartments, the condiment in the othercompartment is deflected away from its dispensing aperture or apparatus,thus avoiding inadvertent dispensing of the other condiment.

Referring now to FIGS. 1-3 and 5, a preferred embodiment of theinvention is illustrated. Container 11 in the illustrative embodiment iscylindrical in form and made of clear plastic. The container may also besquare, rectangular or other shapes and could be made of material otherthan clear plastic. The bottom of the container has a recessed centralportion 11a, the edge portion 11b of the bottom forming a support rim.Running longitudinally down the center of the container from the bottomwall to the top thereof is a divider wall or partition member 13 whichdivides the container into two separate compartments 15 and 16. Divider13 extends above the top edge of the container where it abuts against arib portion 22 of cap 21 as well as the inner surface of the top wall 25of the cap. The top edge 18 of the container is undercut so as to form acircular shoulder into which a mating undercut portion 24 fits in aremovable but tightly engaging relationship.

The cap member 21 has a cylindrical side wall 23 which extends axiallyfrom the side wall of the container, and a flat disc shaped top wall 25.Formed in wall 23 on one side thereof are a pair of vertically alignedapertures 27 which communicate with compartment 15 and through which thecondiment contained within compartment 15 is dispensed. Formed in anopposite portion of wall 23 is a single aperture 28 which provides adispensing aperture for the condiment in compartment 16.

Opposite apertures 27 is a block shaped baffle member 32 which has arear wall 33, and side walls 34 forming a chamber 36 which is open atits bottom and thus in communication with compartment 15. A similarbaffle member 37 is formed opposite aperture 28, this baffle memberhaving an end wall 39 and side walls 40 forming a chamber 41 which is influid communication with compartment 16. Extending from end walls 33 and39 are similar deflector members 44 and 45 having triangularcross-sections, the apices of these triangles being positioned apertures27 and aperture 28 respectively.

The operation of the device is illustrated in FIG. 4. As can be seen,when the condiment 47 within compartment 16 is being dispensed with ashaking motion, some of the condiment 48 within compartment 15 may enterthe chamber 36 of baffle member 32. However, this condiment will tend tofall along the sloped walls of deflector 44 such that with the shakingmotion it will not tend to be shaken out through apertures 27, butrather be deflected against the adjacent wall portions of the chamber.Inadvertent dispensing of the condiment in compartment 15 will thus beminimized.

While the invention has been described and illustrated in detail, it isto be clearly understood that this is to be taken by way of illustrationand example only and not by way of limitation, the spirit and scope ofthe invention being limited only by terms of the following claims.

I claim:
 1. A condiment dispenser for separately dispensing twodifferent condiments, comprising:a container member having side andbottom wall portions, a divider wall extending longitudinally from thebottom to the top of the container, dividing the container into firstand second compartments, and a cap member removably fitted over the topof said container, said cap member having a side wall portion whichextends axially from the top edge of the container and a top wallportion extending between the top edges of the side wall portion, saidside wall portion having first and second aperture means formed thereinlocated above the first and second compartments respectively, and afirst and second block-shaped baffle member formed in said cap memberopposite said first and second aperture means respectively, each of saidbaffle members comprising end and side walls forming a chamber having anopen bottom so as to provide fluid communication between the chambers ofsaid first and second baffle members and said first and secondcompartments respectively, and a deflector member forming the innersurface of the end wall of the chamber and having a triangularcross-section with the apex of said triangle being directly opposite theassociated aperture means, said deflector member being non-aperturedsuch that the flow of condiment therethrough is prevented, whereby whencondiment is purposely dispensed from one of said compartments,condiment in the other of said compartments is deflected so that ittends not to be dispensed inadvertently from its associated aperturemeans.
 2. The condiment dispenser of claim 1 wherein said container andsaid cap are cylindricalin configuration.
 3. The condiment dispenser ofclaim 1 wherein the side walls of the cap member are flush with the sidewalls of said container.
 4. The condiment dispenser of claim 1 whereinthe top edge of said container is undercut to form a circular shoulderand the bottom edge of the side wall of said cap member is undercut toform a ring member which matingly engages the shoulder formed in the topedge of the container.
 5. The condiment dispenser of claims 1, 3 or 4,wherein said cap member has a rib extending downwardly from the top wallthereof, said rib abutting against the top portion of the divider wall.6. The condiment dispenser of claim 1 wherein said divider member is inthe form of a flat sheet and is positioned to divide the container intotwo substantially equal compartments.